Backstep
by Trekkieb
Summary: Parker must go back in time to prevent the death of Blair Sandburg and stop a deadly nerve gas from being released.


**Disclaimer: **Sandburg, Banks, and Ellison belong to PetFly Productions and Paramount. Parker and the Backstep team belong to Christopher Crowe and Paramount. No money was made off of this story.   
**Rating: **PG-13. Violence. Swearing   
**Summary: **_The Sentinel/Seven Days Crossover._Frank Parker must go back in time to prevent the death of Blair Sandburg and stop a deadly nerve gas from being released.

Backstep   
** By [Quiltaday][1]**   
** and [Trekkieb][2]**   
  


~^*^~ **The Ending** ~^*^~ 

"Jim! Give me your hand!" Australian exchange officer Megan Connor reached down into the elevator shaft, pulling the American detective to safety just as the elevator settled into the area that he had been trapped in. "That was too close." She pushed back her hair, staring at Ellison, as if waiting for answers. "I got your call for backup..." She began. 

Jim barely spared her a glance as he straightened up. "I'm glad you're here." He looked around, searching for his adversary. "Where is she?" he demanded, intent on continuing the battle. 

_She?_ "Oh, I left her over here," leading the way, they came to an abrupt stop in a clearing among the machinery. An empty clearing. "She's gone." 

_Gone? You let her get away?_ Jim thought angrily. It was obvious that Alex Barnes was attempting to clean up any loose ends before she left Cascade, but ... His musings were interrupted by a low, vicious growl. Instantly, the vision was again before his eyes. This time, however, there was no hunt, no firing of the arrow. Only of the wolf that lay dying by his hands. Of his Guide that lay dead, mortally wounded by the Sentinel that he had served so faithfully. Suddenly, Jim was aware of the biggest loose end that Alex needed to tie up - one that she needed the detective out of the way for. 

"We've got to find Sandburg," _Where the hell do I start?_ He honestly had no idea where to look. Not since he had tossed his friend out of his home a few days earlier had he had any idea regarding Blair's welfare. Where was he? 

_"You know where to find me."_ Blair had told him, just a few hours before. And suddenly he knew exactly where to look. In a basement office at the local University. The artifact storage room that doubled as the office for a certain neo hippie witch doctor punk. Where everything had started. Had it been three years already? As he rushed for his destination, he feared that he was already too late. 

Jim pulled the old Ford into the front of the University and threw it into 'park', not caring that he blocked the driveway. Without even bothering to close the door he bolted from the truck and headed up the stone steps, followed closely by Megan and then Simon, intent on reaching Blair's office. He paused, knowing somehow that Sandburg was not there. Trusting his eyes,   
he let them lead him to his Guide. "Oh my God." He recognized the figure that was floating face down in the fountain. 

It was Blair Sandburg. 

He vaguely heard the captain demand that an ambulance be called, as he and Henri pulled the limp police observer from the chilly water. "Sandburg! Sandburg!" he called, but there was no answer. Brown backed away as Simon fell down beside Jim, listening for any signs of life. "I don't hear a heartbeat, do you? Jim? JIM! Do you hear a heartbeat?" 

So that's what that strange sound was. For quite some time now there had been this soft, sort of background noise. It wasn't unpleasant, it was just there. Now he finally knew what it was. He had never noticed it before, but now the absence of the familiar heartbeat was almost deafening. "No ... No I don't." The Sentinel was disoriented, stunned by the unnatural silence. By the unnatural stillness of his friend. Following his superior's motions he began performing CPR; Simon doing compression's to entice the quiet heart to begin beating, and Jim breathing life giving breath into his Guide. The one who was once his Guide before he dismissed him like one of his father's servants. _Don't do this, Chief. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry_. The words rang silently, in perfect harmony with the CPR, echoing just as loudly as the silence. He could hear Megan, Henri and Rafe close by, but not interfering. 

Jim felt himself pushed aside by the arriving EMTs. "Give us some room, guys." 

_"I need you to be gone by the time I get back."_ Isn't that what he had told Blair, when his roommate had come home to find all of his belongings tossed carelessly into a bunch of boxes, left by the door for his removal when he got back? _"I need my space."_ The space, the solitude, all the things that he had thought he wanted now meant nothing, nothing at all. He stood, staring down an the still form of his best friend, and prayed silently. 

"Come on, Sandburg, Come on." He knelt again by his friend's side. "Come on, Chief." _Please, don't go. Please_. 

"I'm sorry, guys." Remorse was clearly written in the stranger's features. 

Ellison looked at the paramedic as if he were speaking a foreign language. The other EMT simply started gathering their equipment together. "What do you mean, 'sorry'?" he demanded. Wait, just where did they think they were going? Blair wasn't dead. He couldn't be. "Wait, this isn't over!" Pushing past his captain, he began CPR once again, "Come on, buddy ...Come on ..." _This can't be happening. It was a dream, just a dream. It's not real. This is just a dream; a long, terrible dream. Come on, Chief, breathe_. 

Simon reached over, forcefully pulling his detective away, "It's over, Jim!" With obvious pain and compassion, he quietly added, "Let him go." 

Not willing to accept the truth, he insisted, "He's alive!" _"It's about friendship. I just didn't get it before."_ He continued to struggle against his captain as he remembered those words, but Simon maintained his grasp. 

"No, he's gone!" 

"NO!!!" _Oh, God, no. I'm sorry, Chief. I'm so sorry._

Simon led him to the fountain, one hand on his shoulder, and they sat on the ledge. Jim wasn't sure what to do next. He felt as if a part of him had been ripped away. _No_ he reminded himself, _I threw it away. What the hell was I thinking?_ He shook his head sadly, thinking back over the past few days. They say hindsight is always 20/20 and Jim realized how true that was. How could he have been so blind? He knew that he had laid the first brick in the wall that had built up between himself and Blair, but once it started he hadn't known what to do or how to stop it. And he wasn't sure that he had wanted to. Things had just gotten so tense for the past several months, more recently with Connor showing up, and then there was everything with the dissertation ... 

Jim shook himself. Who did he think he was fooling? Truthfully things hadn't been right since Incacha had died. Even though it was Sandburg that had always been there for him, whenever needed, he had always felt the presence of the old Chopek Indian with him. Guiding him. When Incacha died, he had felt abandoned. When Incacha passed the Way of the Shaman to Blair,   
the Sentinel had felt betrayed. Didn't he have any say in who would fill that role? 

Jim got up and began pacing restlessly, one fist pressed to his mouth biting back his emotions. So that was it. He had been acting like a schoolboy who didn't like the buddy assigned to him, or his new teacher. Rebellious because he didn't get to make a choice. Because he didn't get his own way. Him, the tough guy cop, the ex-Army ranger, the Sentinel of the great city, had thrown a hissy fit. 

And it was Blair Sandburg who had paid the price. 

He stopped his nervous pacing to see the still body gently placed on a stretcher, a crisp white sheet silently being unfolded for a shroud. It was over. And it was all his fault. All of it. He tried once more to hear the heartbeat he had grown so used to. _Wait! What was that?_ He pushed his hearing farther, farther, hoping it hadn't been his imagination ... 

"Jim? Jim?" Simon Banks shook the shoulder of the detective. How he hated when Ellison pulled one of these zone-out stunts. "Jim, snap out of it!" He knew that it must be hard on his subordinate to lose his partner, and even more so since this could have been prevented if only Ellison had ... _Let's not go there. Not right now._ he tried to get his mind off of such thoughts. What was done was done. 

"Huh?" Ellison pulled in a deep breath and looked around him, momentarily confused. Reality slammed back into him when his gaze fell upon the coroner's wagon, the rear door being quietly closed. 

"Come on, Jim, let me drive you home." Slowly, the two turned and walked away. 

Unnoticed, a panther and a wolf lay side by side at the fountain, quietly watching the entire scene.   
  
  
  


~^*^~ ** The Middle** ~^*^~ 

It rained the afternoon that Blair died. It rained the day of the funeral. It had rained every day since. _What was it about rain and funerals? _Simon wondered as he entered the vestibule of the apartment building on Prospect Street shaking out his umbrella. It had been almost a week since they had pulled Blair Sandburg from the fountain. One week since Detective   
Ellison had made every attempt to bring Blair back. Everything humanly possible had been done, but to no avail. 

Blair Sandburg had died there in the fountain. 

Alone. 

And although the body of James Ellison was still functioning, he was just as dead. 

With a sigh, the tall captain pushed the elevator button for the third floor and leaned back, trying to gather his thoughts. There had been no sign of Alex Barnes since that fateful day. The captain knew that the longer the case, which now included the murder of the police observer, went unsolved, the longer Jim would remain locked away in the loft. Eating himself up with guilt. Guilt that Simon quite frankly believed was well placed. 

"Come in, Simon." The Sentinel knew who was at the door. He was well aware of what his superior wanted. He knew what he would say. Simon just didn't understand that it didn't matter if Alex was caught or not; his best friend was gone, and he was to blame. End of story. 

Startled by the opening of the door before he reached up to knock, he reached up and pulled the perpetual cigar from clenched teeth. "Detective, you've got to stop doing that. You know how much it irks me." Simon attempted a smile, but failed miserably. "You look like hell, James. When was the last time you got some sleep?" 

"It doesn't matter." 

"Yes, it does. Dammit, Jim, you've got to stop doing this to yourself. Sandburg's gone, and that's the way it is. I'm sorry, and I miss him too, but life _does_ go on. Do you think for one minute that he'd want..." 

"Don't you DARE try and tell me what he'd want." He flew out of his seat with fire in his eyes. "I know that he would have wanted me to tell him what was going on, and not keep it to myself. I know that if I'd given him the chance, that he'd have done anything that he could to get us, to get ME through this. I knew exactly what he wanted, and I blew it off." He slowed down his rant, his voice quieting. "I blew him off. And he paid the price." 

With his burst of energy depleted, Jim sank back onto the couch, and once again stared blankly at the TV screen. Curious, Simon stepped closer to see what he was watching. "CNN?" he asked questioningly as he decided to sit down to stay for a spell. 

Jim shrugged. "There wasn't anything else on." 

They sat in silence, Ellison drawing strength from the quiet, yet loudly spoken, act of friendship. Unfortunately the silence did not last for very long. "...This just in. reports have confirmed that a penitentiary in Dallas, Texas is being held for ransom. Someone claiming to have planted a canister of VBX nerve gas that was stolen from Washington State several days ago, is making unknown demands. However, they have informed CNN that if the demands are not met within three hours, they will release the gas. As we are making every attempt to verify this information, authorities are attempting to calm the panicking population, where, if the gas is released, the death toll is estimated to be in the tens of thousands ..." 

The captain and detective stared at the news reporter with the same thought - Alex. She had stolen the gas from their city. Although she had had a partner, they had never uncovered the reasons behind her crime spree. And if she released the toxic gas .... 

That was a thought that neither cared to entertain. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Parker! Donovan! In here, NOW!" The resounding voice of Nate Ramsey echoed through the halls via the internal PA system. 

"Gee, ya think he wants something?" Frank Parker sighed as he threw down his cards. _Damn, and this time I finally had a good hand, too._ Sometimes he wondered just why he had taken this assignment. Surely things back in the looney bin weren't this bad. 

Donovan looked over at his poker buddy with a smile. His currently losing poker buddy, that is. "Maybe he just misses your cheerful disposition." he folded his hand with an impish smile. "Hey, you should be happy. You were losing, anyway. Now, exactly how much is it that you owe me?" 

"You know, there are some perks to this little project here. I can run up quite a tab with you, and when I come back, you've forgotten it." 

"That may be so, but don't forget, the same thing happens to Vukavitch. I know you like her; I've seen the way you look at her..." 

"Thank you so very much for reminding me of that. With friends like you, who could possibly need any enemies?" 

Laughing, Donovan steered his friend down the corridor. "Aw, come on, Frank. It'll all work out eventually. Right now, let's just find out what the crisis of the day is, before Ramsey sends the dobermans out looking for us. I don't know about you, but I'm in much too good of a mood to let him spoil it." The men laughed as they picked up the pace to get to the mission briefing room. 

"Mr. Parker, how nice of you to join us." The sarcastic voice was recognized by the two instantly. Nate Ramsey was a beauracratic stiff who ate, drank, and breathed the Land of Liberty and apple pie. "Donovan, I'd have expected more from you. having been in this man's military for..." 

"Look, Ramsey, can't you give it a rest, just for a little while...?" Parker rolled his eyes as Ramsey started in again. As usual. 

"All right, children, can we get on with things? We have a serious situation here." Talmadge sighed at the ever present bickering going on. He took mental roll of the people at the table before beginning. Aside from the perpetually cranky Ramsey, also present were Olga Vukavitch, John Ballard, and Isaac Mentnor. The whole group was present and accounted for. "Dr. Vukavitch, won't you begin?" 

"Thank you, sir." The beautiful scientist rose from her seat and walked to the front of the table. "Gentlemen, approximately thirty minutes ago, a canister of VBX was released in downtown Dallas, Texas. The hot zone itself is the Dallas State Penitentiary, but the gas cloud coupled with the crosswinds is likely to carry the toxin in a sixty-four mile radius. The death toll is expected to be in the tens of thousands." 

"Just what is this VBX stuff?" Parker fiddled distractedly with a pen, feigning interest in the conversation. 

"VBX is a highly concentrated strain of nerve gas, which is mutated with the Ebola virus. The canister itself was only about the size of a large thermos, however it's the intense heat from the detonation is what actually activates it. Contrary to popular opinion, the air currents in don't dilute it, they merely disperse it, killing everything in it's path. Mind you it's not an instantaneous death. It attacks the nervous system and slowly, painfully, shuts one's systems down while it ruptures all the blood vessels, causing massive hemorrhaging. It's anything but painless. According to our people in Dallas there was a three hour warning given but the demands, which we are still not aware of, were not met, thus the release of the gas. We've collected as much information as is possible in such a short time but we are in a serious situation here. Isaac, would you mind taking over?" 

Frank sighed inwardly. _You are so beautiful_. he thought as the woman retook her seat. His mind wandered back to the time they had shared a kiss. That kiss, that wonderful soul filling kiss. He would never forget it. It had been when he had been caught in that time loop. Then, as he did every time he thought of that trip, he remembered her being killed. If he hadn't stopped the time warp from being repaired in the nick of time, she would still be dead. Parker shook himself free of those unpleasant memories as   
Isaac started speaking. It was true that he was quite smitten with the scientist, and could spend hours just listening to her voice. Isaac, on the other hand, tended to ramble and go off on his little rabbit trails in true scientist/genius form. 

"Okay, guys, this here is what we've got." Dr. Isaac Mentor circled the table, dropping a file in front of each of them. As he made his way back to the front, he flipped on several monitors as he did. "The suspect's name is Alexandra Barnes. She is a convicted felon, but there's no record that she ever spent any time in the Texas State Penn. Unfortunately, we know very little about her and what we have been able to ascertain is ... Well, you be the judge. 

"Her last known place of residence was Cascade, Washington. She was the main suspect in a string of robberies, officially unsolved, that lead up to the theft of the VBX." Seeing several confused looks, he hurried along. "The VBX had multiple security measures, all of which were stolen by this Barnes woman; including a prototype laser cutter. 

"There is another event that may or may not be associated with the case. The locals believe they are closely connected ... Ummm ... A murder that occurred nearly a week ago," He scurried around the table again, dropping another folder at each place, "Ms. Barnes is the prime suspect in the drowning death of one Blair Sandburg. He was a teaching fellow and grad student over at Rainier University. In addition, he was an official police observer..." 

"This clown?" Ramsey looked up from the photo, distaste clearly written across his face, "This punk needed a haircut for starters ..." 

" ... If you'll let me continue, this 'punk' as you might like to call him, was quite an asset to the Cascade Police Department. Those are the exact words of the captain of Major Crimes, not mine. As a matter of fact, he was buried with full honors, even though he was not officially a member of the department. In addition, his IQ would put yours to shame. He was partnered with a Detective Ellison. It says they were roommates as well." 

Donovan had been reading through the information contained in the files. He looked up in surprise. "Ellison?" he asked._ It can't be the same one_. "James Ellison? Ex-Army captain?" 

"Yes, it's the same one. Do you know him?" Isaac asked when he saw Donovan's surprise. 

"Captain James Ellison, Covert Ops. Let's say I know him and leave it at that. We served on an ops run in Lima once. Played poker most of the time; he wasn't the chatty type. We ran into each other a couple of time since, but I haven't seen him in a few years. Last I heard his chopper crashed in some jungle in Peru. He was the only one who survived. This Sandburg must be   
pretty good at whatever it is he does if he's partnered with Ellison." 

"Yep, that's all here." 

"This Sandburg, what's his connection to all of this?" Donovan looked up, not understanding. Sure it was a shame about the kid, but what did one have to do with another? 

"If you'll let me explain, Mr. Sandburg first met Ms. Barnes when she was arrested for indecent exposure and public drunkenness. She swerved her car off the road and into a tree, and then got out and she, um, took her clothes off." 

Parker considered the photo of the sleek blonde killer. "She could take her clothes off for me anytime." he murmured. 

"Did you have something to add, Mr. Parker?" Olga asked coolly from across the table. 

"Um, I was just, uh, wondering why she'd take her clothes off, that's all." 

"Well, according to the report, she claimed that they felt like sandpaper. She said that the oncoming car's lights were too bright, which caused her to hit the tree, and then her skin hurt, so she took off her blouse. She checked out negative on a breathalyzer. It seems that Mr. Sandburg was at the station that night, and spoke to her for some time and gave her his card at the university. I did some checking, and it turns out that his original doctorate thesis was on something called Sentinels. These were people genetically predisposed to having heightened senses." 

"Like Superman or some nonsense like that? We need facts here, not some fairytale mumbo jumbo." 

"As much as I hate to say it, I agree with Ramsey," Parker piped up, "I mean, come on, superhuman stuff? Tell me you've got more than this to go on." 

"As a matter of fact, I do, but we're not here to discuss her genetics. Or his for that matter. All we have to go on is the onnection, whatever it was, between these two. The last place she was known to be was in Cascade. And forensics show us that it was indeed her that killed Blair Sandburg. And that's the last anyone saw of her until today." 

Frank started to feel uncomfortable. Not because of the idea of a backstep, but he had a feeling that there was more that they weren't telling, "Umm, why do I have the feeling that there's more to this?" 

"A backstep has been authorized and as far as we can tell, the only way to stop Ms. Barnes is to go back to the last place she was known to be. At that university. And unfortunately, it's been six days and fourteen hours. We've got to send you to the university, to Blair Sandburg, and stop his murder. That's the only way we can track her. But there won't be any time to contact the base. You'll be totally on your own. We also have to face the possibility that you won't be in time." 

When Talmadge stopped speaking a silence fell over the room. A backstep without contacting the base was unheard of. And with only a few hours, instead of the few days that they usually had, they were cutting it close. Too close. 

"Is everything ready?" Parker spoke up. 

"Yes. Get suited up. It's a go."   
  
  
  


~^*^~ **A New Beginning** ~^*^~ 

Parker stumbled out of the Sphere and fell to the ground, desperately pulling off his helmet. _I think I'd have to say that went rather well,_ he thought dryly as he coughed and heaved on the cool earth. God, how he hated the first few minutes after a backstep. With a final sniffle and a deep breath, he pushed himself off of the ground, slowly maneuvering himself back towards the Sphere. Pausing long enough to get his bearings, he stripped off the orange protective suit, casting it aside carelessly. 

He felt much better as he breathed in the crisp night air. "Which way?" he asked himself aloud. Judging by the darkness, he knew that he had some time, but they had cut it close, and he didn't have any time to waste; no pun intended. _May as well make Brainiac proud and do this the scientific way. Eenie, meenie, miney ... Moe_. Frank made his choice and started off to the south. He was not sure how far it would be to Cascade and he prayed that he had landed where they had intended; in the woods just north of Rainier University. Most of the time he never landed where he wanted to. Not that it was his fault. The damn Sphere was so hard to control most of the time. 

"There is a God." Parker breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the buildings up ahead. This was not the usual way that the brass ran the Backstep Project. Ordinarily, the ex-Black Ops agent was to contact the base, using his code name 'Conundrum', and turn over to them the chip that had all of the encoded information detailing his mission, including what they had deemed the solution. This time, however, there simply wasn't time. The last known place that Alex Barnes had been was here in Cascade. To murder a grad student. 

Isaac had told his wild fairy tale about superheroes with super senses and their sidekicks who made them work but Parker, like Ramsey, just didn't buy it. There had to be some logical explanation why this woman had wanted this particular young man dead. Perhaps she was his jilted lover. Maybe he was in on her crime spree and had outlived his usefulness. Whatever it was, Frank   
was sure that it had nothing to do with the X-men, or whoever they were. 

Parker passed the stone fountains and started up the steps, considering Blair Sandburg all the while. He was quite an interesting person, from what he had learned of him so far. Started college when he was sixteen, raised by a single parent - a mother who was perpetually stuck in the sixties, and he had traveled over the world on various anthropological expeditions. He had seen the photograph of Sandburg from the obituaries; he certainly didn't look the academic type. And if there hadn't been the file of him working with the local law enforcement, he would have never believed it. Well, he might buy narcotics but even that would be stretching it. A hippie working with the cops? Heck, the report from Isaac even said that the kid had lived with the one detective, Ellison. Now that was hard to believe. 

Parker paused in the long hallways, trying to remember the way. Looking out one of the tall windows, he could see day breaking, and knew that he was running out of time. Frank unconsciously fingered the small vial around his neck that contained the microchip. The coroner's report had declared that Sandburg had been in the fountain for at least half an hour, and since he was found just about an hour after sunrise, that meant ... "That means I need to get this show on the road." 

Silently, the NSA agent ran up the halls, looking for the desired office. Finally, he found his goal; a corner office with an etched pane of glass. The name on the door read 'Blair Sandburg'. With a quiet sigh of relief, he pushed the door open. 

Sandburg looked up from where he sat. He had been hoping that it was Jim who would show up. Not some out-of-breath stranger wearing a blue jumpsuit, who looked like he really needed a shower. "Can I help you?" he asked evenly. 

"There's no time to explain right now," Parker began as he entered the office and started toward the desk, "but it's important that we get out of your office right now." he came around the desk, grasping Blair's arm, pulling him from his seat. 

"Now hold on, man, I'm not going anywhere with you, not until you tell me what's going on." Blair pulled back his arm defiantly. There was definitely something very wrong here, had been for the past few days now, and he was getting sick of it. Sick of people thinking that they could jerk him around, or manipulate him, or just plain bully him. 

"Listen up, and listen good. Your life is in danger, and if we don't leave right now, there's a woman who's going to kill you. I need to find that woman, but if you'd rather be dead, then that's your problem. I can just wait outside and grab her after she dumps your body in the fountain and walks away ..." 

"Hold on, wait a minute," the grad student interrupted, stepping closer to the stranger, eyeing him suspiciously. "How is it that you know that someone is coming here, right now, to kill me and toss me in the fountain? Just who are you anyway?" He looked at the stranger, his gaze unwavering. There was something very wrong here, and he wasn't liking it, not one bit. 

_SHIT. Shit, shit, shitshitshit._ The time traveler cursed silently. He had screwed up royally this time. He had forgotten that the kid was alone when he was killed, that he had an IQ that was genius, and that he himself had just said too much. Now he had to try to figure a way out of this little... complication. 

"Just listen, alright? If I don't catch this Barnes woman..." 

"Barnes? Alex Barnes? Why would she want to kill me?" Blair was surprised. "Wait, how do you know Alex? Do you work with her?" Blair noted the man across from him glance at his watch again. "And how do you know she's gonna kill me? Wait, let me guess. A little birdie told you? Well, thanks, buddy, but no thanks. I'm kinda busy at the moment and I'd like you to leave, now"   
Blair knew he was being pretty rude, but he didn't have time for this. He had things to do, a life to put back together. 

"No, I don't work with her." Before Frank could come up with a plausible explanation, the door opened. 

"Yes, do tell how you knew I was coming here." The tall, slender woman moved her gun from one man back to the other. "Oh, do please tell, I like a good tale." She smiled pleasantly, but her eyes were hard and cold as Frank had ever seen in his life. 

His mind racing, Parker tried to come up with a way to stall. According to the reports he had received, several detectives had arrived on the scene about half an hour after Sandburg was murdered. He figured that the two must have talked for several minutes, walked outside to the fountain, which could have eaten up another five. Frank groaned inwardly. He needed to buy at   
least forty-five minutes if he was to hope the detectives showed up. 

"Well? I'm waiting?" Alex shifted her weight from one foot to the other impatiently. This wasn't in her plans at all. She hadn't even wanted to kill Blair. It was him that she had to thank for everything. For believing she wasn't crazy. For showing her how to use her abilities. But she knew that she couldn't leave him alive. She had even considered trying to convince him to come with her. She knew that he could help her to hone her skills. They could work beautifully together. Her current employer wouldn't like it, but   
that was none of his concern. As long as she got the job done, what she did was her own affair. And she also knew that with his relationship with the detective over, there was little holding him here. She stared at the dark-haired stranger in the room. 

Parker weighed his options again as he changed the subject, "How long were you listening?" 

"Oh, I only just got here. But I was listening since I pulled into the parking lot." 

"That's impossible." He stared at the woman, the reports of, what were they called? Sentinels? flashed through his mind. 

"Oh, you don't think so?" Alex stared at him angrily. How dare he question her? "I'll prove it to you." she closed her eyes, then opened them again. "You've wearing Drakar Noir cologne." she stated. 

"C'mon, Alex, that's too easy. Try something harder." Blair spared a glance over at his unnamed visitor before returning his attention to the woman. He had an idea. He only prayed it would work. 

The look was not missed by Parker. _What's he doing?_ He tried to remember what Donovan had told him while he watched the long-haired kid before him seem to hypnotize the woman. _Sentinels and their Guides, that's right. The Guides help them concentrate or something._ He found himself calming while he listened to the tone of the Sandburg's voice. 

"That's right, Alex, you can do it ... Just concentrate. Picture it in your mind, let your sense of smell follow. The tulips, remember? You can smell them like there're right in your hands." 

Alex frowned, her forehead creased in pain. "I can't. It hurts." 

"No it doesn't Don't think about it. Remember the dial? Turn it down, that's it. You just want the tulips, the smell of the tulips, nothing else. Can you smell them?" 

Blair motioned gently with his hand for Parker to move towards the door, which he did. He was still captivated by the scene before him. He continued his inconspicuous movement toward the door, with Sandburg's eyes locked onto his, his voice still droning on, as if by second nature. Suddenly the look in his eyes changed. They took on a somewhat triumphant air. 

"... That's good. You're doing great. See? You can control it. Breathe in the fragrance, let it fill you ..." Blair trailed off with a smile. He had done it, he had gotten Alex to zone out. He quietly backed away from the woman, picking up the bag that Frank pointed at as he followed him out into the corridor. 

"How in the hell..." he started, and was immediately shushed by his companion. They both started at the sudden movement in the room, and they both kicked it into high gear and began running like hell down the long, empty corridor, Blair leading the way. They rounded the corner just as they heard several gunshots ring out. All of a sudden, a powerful blow sent Parker reeling forward. Simultaneously a searing pain erupted in his back. _Isn't this just ducky?_ he thought as he faltered and fell to the ground. _I'm supposed to go back and fix things, and here I end up the one who dies. Ramsey'll never let me live this one down._ As he crumpled to the ground, he pulled the chain and vial off from around his neck. "Some people will contact you within a few days; give this to them." He pushed the microchip into Blair's hand, trying to catch his breath. "Now go. Get out of   
here. Don't let her get the VBX." 

Blair could now hear her unsteady footsteps echoing in the halls. He had known that when the shots rang out that it would be too much on her hearing, and he had been hoping for one of her headaches. He turned his attention back to the injured man. "I don't know your name, or anything about you. How will I know who to give it to? What is it?" he stared down at the blood   
slowly pooling on the floor and shoved the container into his pocket, momentarily forgotten. "Oh, man, just hold on, okay? You're gonna be okay, just hold on." 

"No, there's no time. You have to ... Get away." breathing was becoming increasingly difficult for the time traveler, and he was beginning to feel chilled. "Now go ... on ... Go." He pushed the young man away with what bit of strength he had left. "Go ... Please." 

Blair looked once again at the stranger who had just saved his live. "Thank you." he whispered as he turned and ran down the hall for the front doors. 

Frank Parker winced as a cough wracked his body, bringing up a considerable amount of blood as he did so. _So this is what it feels like to die,_ he thought. _It's highly overrated_. He shivered as the warmth seeped out of his body along with his life. Hearing a short laugh, he looked up into the cold face of Alex Barnes. 

"Awww, poor thing. You don't look like you're feeling too well." 

"Go ... To ... Hell ... Bitch." 

Alex raised the gun, level with the heart of her adversary, "I'll see you there first." 

Blair whirled around at the sound of a single gunshot ringing through the empty University. He felt a momentarily pang of sadness for the one who had given his life for his own. 

He looked up to see Alex staring at him, moving toward him, gun raised, pointed at him. Without hesitation, Sandburg jerked the door open, scurrying down the stone steps. Running for all he was worth, Blair practically flew down the steps, oblivious to everything but getting the canister of deadly gas, and himself, away from the rogue Sentinel. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Jim! Give me your hand!" Australian exchange officer Megan Connor reached down into the elevator shaft, pulling the American detective to safety just as the elevator settled into the area that he had been trapped in. "That was too close." she pushed back her hair, staring at Ellison, as if waiting for answers. "I got your call for backup..." She began. 

Jim barely spared her a glance as he straightened up. "I'm glad you're here." He looked around searching for his adversary. "Where is she?" he demanded, intent on continuing the battle. 

_She?_ "Oh, I left her over here," leading the way, they came to an abrupt stop in a clearing among the machinery. An empty clearing. "She's gone." 

_Gone? You let her get away?_ The Sentinel thought angrily. It was obvious that Alex Barnes was attempting to clean up any loose ends before she left Cascade, but ... His musings were interrupted by a low, vicious growl. Instantly, the vision was again before his eyes. But this time there was no hunt, no firing of the arrow. Only of the wolf that lay dying by his hands. Of his Guide that lay dead, mortally wounded by the Sentinel that he had served so faithfully. Suddenly, Jim was aware of the biggest loose end that Alex needed to tie up - one that she needed the detective out of the way for. 

"We've got to find Sandburg," _Where the hell do I start?_ He honestly had no idea where to look. Not since he had tossed his friend out of his home a few days earlier had he had any idea regarding Blair's welfare. Where was he? 

_"You know where to find me."_ Blair had told him, just a few hours before. And then he knew exactly where to look. In a basement office at the local University. The artifact storage room that doubled as the office for a certain neo hippie witch doctor punk. Where everything had started, had it been three years already? As he rushed for his destination, he feared that he was already too late. 

Jim pulled the old Ford into the front of the University and threw it into 'park', not caring that he blocked the driveway. Not even bothering to close the door, he bolted from the truck and headed up the stone steps, when he recognized the figure racing down the steps from the next building. "Sandburg!" he called out. 

Hearing his name called by the familiar voice, Blair stopped, and time seemed to standstill at the same time. Stopping and turning, he saw Ellison running towards him, reaching behind him to where his holster was. _"You know where to find me,"_ he had told his friend not much earlier. _You came. I knew you would,_ he thought briefly, with relief. In that instant, he knew that everything would be okay. Maybe not right away but it would be. 

Jim stared at his friend, and instantly the familiar vision was before his eyes; of the wolf running through the trees, of him pursuing. In his mind's eye, he saw himself reaching behind him for an arrow, placing it in the bow, and take aim at the creature that not been threatening him. 

Just as quickly the vision was gone, and there before him was his Guide, staring at him. Their eyes locked for a split second, and Ellison knew that he had been wrong to keep the visions to himself, and not to confide in his friend, his shaman. Without hesitation, he aimed his gun to where Alex stood on the top step, her own gun trained on Sandburg. 

"What's it gonna be, detective? Are you that good? Can you kill me before I kill him?" Staring down the steps, she considered the detective. He was a worthy opponent, almost a match for her, but not quite. In her own mind, she was invincible, "So, what are you going to do?" she laughed. Ellison kept his gun aimed at her, steady as a rock. "Blair, give me the bag." 

Blair held tightly onto the bag. He knew that she must not get the gas, no matter what the cost. He still did not know how the stranger fit in, but he knew that Alex Barnes was unstable enough to use the gas if she got a hold of it. "I don't think so, Alex." 

"Your choice." Slowly she began squeezing the trigger. 

"What do you fear, Enqueri?" the voice of Incacha rang loudly in Ellison's head as time seemed to slow down. 

Frustration at what was happening before him added to his uncertainty of the visions, he answered, his voice unsteady, "I fear ... I fear letting him down. I fear the responsibility of having a Guide." 

"He is here by his own choice, but you refuse to acknowledge that. Do you not want him? Would you choose another? Is he not worthy of the Sentinel of the Great City? Is there another one more worthy than he?" 

"No, it's not that ... " 

"No, it is not. Trust him, Sentinel. Give him the chance. Choose, Sentinel. Choose to keep him, or lose him forever. But you can not have it both ways." 

Detective James Ellison watched as the trigger was pulled back on the gun that was aimed at his friend, his partner, his brother. Without hesitation, he fired his own gun just as she fired, with the sound echoed by that of Simon and Megan's firearms. Her body jerked unnaturally as each bullet ripped through her. Alex Barnes was dead before she hit the ground. 

"Chief, are you okay?" Jim passed the pack containing the deadly toxin to Rafe, and led his partner to the fountain, where they sat. 

"Um, yeah, I'm fine, but there was this guy ... He's in the hallway. He's dead." Opening his hand, he showed Ellison the vial and microchip. "He gave me this and said someone would be contacting me." 

The detective held up the small glass container and stared intently at it's contents, wondering what they may have inadvertently gotten themselves into. 

Unnoticed, panther and a wolf lay side by side at the fountain, quietly watching the entire scene. 

**The End**   
~*~*~*~ 

** Note: To be continued in 'Paradox', coming soon ......**   


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